POOREST OF THE POOR IN ORANGE COUNTY

Recipients: Fewer than 10% of Orange County’s 1,800 general relief recipients were local residents before seeking assistance. Recipients are mostly transients and refugees, of which 15% claim to be homeless. The average stay on general relief is 25 days. More than 90% of all cases represent single-person households. Most are unemployable and/or disabled individuals seeking federal assistance through supplemental security income (SSI) and people deemed temporarily unemployed. About 400 recipients who are considered employable participate in the county’s general work relief program.

Eligibility: County officials say many general relief applicants own only “the clothes on their backs.” Recipients cannot own real estate worth more than $5,000 or personal property worth more than $1,000.

Financial Aid / Assistance: As of July 1, the county adopted the state’s assistance standards for Aid to Families With Dependent Children (AFDC), increasing the maximum monthly grant from $289 to $311 for a single person. An Orange County recipient also can receive $70 in food stamps. About $5 million in general relief benefits are paid annually in Orange County, and officials estimate that about 9% or $400,070, is recovered through repayments.